Structured AI-First development methodology for OpenAI Codex CLI. Every feature goes through a spec-driven pipeline with automated validators and quality gates at each stage.
A complete development framework where AI agents handle the full cycle: requirements → architecture → tasks → code → review → documentation. You guide the process, agents do the work.
Problems it solves:
- Context loss between sessions — distributed knowledge base persists across sessions
- Quality without human review — automated validators at every stage
- Scope creep — specs approved before coding starts
- Outdated library knowledge — Context7 MCP fetches current docs
- Codex CLI installed and configured
- GitHub CLI (
gh) for project initialization - gitleaks for pre-commit secret scanning
- Git Bash on Windows (for shell hooks)
git clone https://github.com/stepanenkoviktor0110-boop/ai-dev-methodology-codex.git ~/.agentsThis places all skills, agents, and templates where Codex expects them (~/.agents/).
Add to ~/.codex/config.toml:
model = "gpt-5.4"
# Multi-agent orchestration (feature-execution spawns parallel workers + reviewers)
[agents]
max_threads = 10 # parallel workers per wave (default 6)
max_depth = 2 # worker can spawn reviewer subagent
job_max_runtime_seconds = 3600 # 1 hour for large waves
# SessionStart hook for checkpoint recovery (optional, for long features)
[[hooks]]
event = "SessionStart"
command = "cat work/*/logs/checkpoint.yml 2>/dev/null || echo 'No active checkpoint'"Add Context7 MCP server for up-to-date library documentation. In ~/.codex/config.toml:
[mcp_servers.context7]
command = "npx"
args = ["-y", "@upstash/context7-mcp"]# Check framework structure
ls ~/.agents/skills/ ~/.agents/AGENTS.md
# Check gitleaks
gitleaks version/init-project # Template + git + GitHub repo
/init-project-knowledge # Interview → fill all project documentation
After this you'll have:
- GitHub repo with
master+devbranches .agents/skills/project-knowledge/filled with project docsAGENTS.mdpointing to your knowledge base
/new-user-spec # Step 1: Interview → user-spec.md (requirements)
# ⛔ user approves spec
/new-tech-spec # Step 2: Research → tech-spec.md (architecture)
# ⛔ user approves spec
/decompose-tech-spec # Step 3: Break into tasks → tasks/*.md
# ⛔ GATE 1: user approves task decomposition
# ⛔ GATE 2: user approves session plan (LOC budget)
# ⛔ HARD STOP — no auto-transition to code
/do-feature # Step 4: Execute tasks by waves
# ⛔ GATE 3: user confirms session scope + LOC before start
# ⛔ GATE 4: session end → report + handoff prompt + STOP
/done # Step 5: Update project docs → archive feature
Each step has validators and blocking gates — no step proceeds without explicit user approval:
| Step | Command | Validators | Gates | Output |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Requirements | /new-user-spec |
quality + adequacy (2) | user approves spec | user-spec.md |
| Architecture | /new-tech-spec |
skeptic + completeness + security + test + template (5) | user approves spec | tech-spec.md |
| Tasks | /decompose-tech-spec |
template + reality (2) | user approves tasks, then session plan | tasks/*.md + session-plan.md |
| Code | /do-feature |
code + security + test reviewers (3) | session scope confirmed, STOP at session end | commits |
| Audit | (auto, last waves) | holistic code + security + test audit (3) | — | audit reports |
| QA | (auto, final wave) | pre-deploy + deploy + post-deploy | — | verified feature |
/do-task # Execute one task with quality gates
Use when you want to debug, iterate, or manually control execution.
/write-code # TDD cycle: plan → tests → code → review
Quick coding with automatic code review. No specs needed.
| Command | Purpose |
|---|---|
/init-project-knowledge |
Fill project documentation via interview |
/quick-learning |
Extract reasoning patterns (auto at session breaks, manual anytime) |
/done |
Finalize feature, update docs, archive |
/sketch |
Lightweight prototyping without validators |
/pause |
Stop work, save session state for resumption |
your-project/
├── .agents/ # AI agent context (auto-created by /init-project)
│ └── skills/
│ └── project-knowledge/ # Your project's knowledge base
│ ├── SKILL.md
│ └── references/
│ ├── project.md # Purpose, audience, scope
│ ├── architecture.md # Tech stack, structure, data model
│ ├── patterns.md # Code conventions, testing, business rules
│ └── deployment.md # Platform, CI/CD, monitoring
├── work/ # Feature work items
│ ├── my-feature/
│ │ ├── user-spec.md # Requirements (human-readable)
│ │ ├── tech-spec.md # Architecture (for agents)
│ │ ├── decisions.md # Decisions made during implementation
│ │ ├── tasks/ # Atomic task files
│ │ └── logs/ # Session plans, checkpoints, review reports
│ └── completed/ # Archived finished features
├── AGENTS.md # Minimal — points to project-knowledge
└── README.md
~/.agents/ # This repository
├── skills/ # 20+ skills (methodology, execution, quality)
├── agents/ # 20 agents (validators, reviewers, creators)
├── shared/
│ ├── work-templates/ # Templates for specs, tasks, sessions
│ ├── templates/ # New project scaffolding
│ ├── interview-templates/ # Interview plans (YAML)
│ ├── scripts/ # Dispatcher, smoke test, init scripts
│ └── runtime/ # MCP aliases
└── AGENTS.md # Global preferences
- Spec-Driven — write specs before code. Hierarchy: User Spec → Tech Spec → Tasks → Code
- Blocking Gates — 6 mandatory HARD STOPs in the pipeline. No step proceeds without explicit user approval. Agent never auto-transitions between decomposition → execution or between sessions
- Multi-level Validation — automated validators at every stage (2 → 5 → 2 → 3)
- Session Planning — waves grouped by ~1200 LOC budget per session (fits context window). LOC budget enforced as a communication gate before each session/task
- Session Handoff — at session end: structured report (done/not done/checks/risks) + generated prompt for next session. Execution stops until user explicitly starts next session
- Checkpoint Recovery —
checkpoint.ymlpersists state; SessionStart hook resumes after compaction - Just-In-Time Context — agents read only what's needed for current task
- Quick Learning — reasoning patterns auto-extracted at session breaks, embedded into skills via
/skill-trainer
The framework uses Codex CLI's built-in subagent system (spawn_agent, wait_agent, send_input, close_agent).
How /do-feature orchestrates a wave:
Orchestrator (feature-execution)
├─ spawn_agent: Worker 1 (task 1, tier_high) ─┐
├─ spawn_agent: Worker 2 (task 2, tier_high) ├─ parallel
├─ spawn_agent: Worker 3 (task 3, tier_high) ─┘
│
├─ wait_agent: collect results from all workers
│
├─ spawn_agent: code-reviewer (tier_medium) ─┐
├─ spawn_agent: security-auditor (tier_medium) ├─ parallel reviews
├─ spawn_agent: test-reviewer (tier_medium) ─┘
│
├─ wait_agent: collect review reports
├─ fix findings → re-run reviewers (max 3 rounds)
└─ commit wave
Other subagent patterns:
/decompose-tech-spec: spawnstask-creatorper task (parallel) +task-validator+reality-checker(parallel)/new-tech-spec: spawns 5 validators in parallel (skeptic, completeness, security, test, template)/new-user-spec: spawns 2 validators in parallel (quality, adequacy)
Config (~/.codex/config.toml):
[agents]
max_threads = 10 # how many subagents can run in parallel
max_depth = 2 # worker (depth 1) can spawn reviewer (depth 2)| Tier | Model | Use |
|---|---|---|
tier_high |
gpt-5.4 |
Workers, complex architecture, security-critical work |
tier_medium |
gpt-5.3-codex |
Reviewers, validators, medium tasks (specialized coding model) |
tier_low |
gpt-5.4-mini (low reasoning) |
Simple checks, formatting |
Skills contain methodology (WHAT to do). Agents add isolation + output contracts (HOW to deliver).
| Category | Skills | Agents |
|---|---|---|
| Planning | user-spec-planning, tech-spec-planning, task-decomposition, project-planning | interview-completeness-checker, task-creator |
| Execution | code-writing, feature-execution, pre-deploy-qa, post-deploy-qa | code-researcher |
| Quality | code-reviewing, security-auditor, test-master | code-reviewer, security-auditor, test-reviewer, prompt-reviewer |
| Validation | — | userspec-quality-validator, userspec-adequacy-validator, tech-spec-validator, skeptic, completeness-validator, task-validator, reality-checker |
| Meta | methodology, quick-learning, documentation-writing, skill-trainer | documentation-reviewer, deploy-reviewer, infrastructure-reviewer, skill-checker |
| Utility | sketch, pause, progress | — |
For full details on any skill, read its SKILL.md directly:
cat ~/.agents/skills/{skill-name}/SKILL.md
Skills are resolved directly from SKILL.md files — no dispatcher scripts needed:
- Shim skills (e.g.,
do-feature/SKILL.md) redirect to the full procedure in the target skill - AGENTS.md enforces "No Scripts" rule — agents read and follow SKILL.md files directly
- MCP aliases:
shared/runtime/mcp-aliases.json— Context7 tool name mapping
Evolved fork of molyanov-ai-dev by Pavel Molyanov (MIT License).
Complete synchronization of all skills with the Claude Code source of truth (v2.0). Every skill updated to latest content with Codex CLI adaptations.
Skills:
- 35 skills total (was 34): removed
retrospective,skill-master,skill-test-designer,skill-tester; addedpause,progress,project-knowledge,sketch,skill-trainer quick-learningreplacesretrospective— reasoning pattern extraction runs automatically at session breaks and is available as manual/quick-learningcommandskill-trainer— embeds accumulated triads from quick-learning into target skills as permanent instructions- All skills synced: CRITICAL rules, Post-Generation Guards, Promoted Patterns, Learned Patterns ported from source
- Codex delegation removed from code-writing (Codex IS the primary agent, not a delegate)
Methodology:
- Pipeline simplified: 6 steps → 5 (retrospective merged into quick-learning auto-trigger)
- Updated Skills Ecosystem with Utility category (sketch, pause, progress)
.gitignoreupdated to exclude Claude Code artifacts
- Unified knowledge system — single reasoning-patterns.md buffer with triad-based dedup instead of scattered lessons-learned.md files
- Pruning trigger — automatic cleanup when >25 entries in triad-index
- Mechanical pre-filter — 3+ content words in Goal = Near match candidate (reduces subjective judgment)
- Design categories — design-taste, design-process, design-iteration in retrospective and quick-learning
All fixes from running the full pipeline on health-dashboard-mvp (Windows, Codex CLI). Every issue found during real sessions → fixed in the framework.
Cross-platform & Environment:
- Non-empty directory handling in
/infrastructure-setup— scaffold in tmp dir, move files (Vite/Next.js refuse non-empty dirs) - Cross-platform gitleaks: install instructions for macOS/Windows/Linux, fallback path search in pre-commit hook
.gitleaks.tomltemplate — default rules don't catch all patterns, custom rules now mandatory- Clean pre-commit testing — verify gitleaks WITHOUT polluting git history (stage → test → cleanup)
- Windows/PowerShell section — execution policy workarounds,
npm pkg setover PSCustomObject, husky path config rgAccess denied fallback — mandatory fallback toGet-ChildItem | Select-String- npm install timeout guidance — heavy packages need 5+ min timeout, retry on failure
- Dev server verification —
npm run buildas alternative when stdout is unavailable - PowerShell-safe git commands —
"HEAD@{1}..HEAD"quoted for@{}syntax
Pipeline & Execution:
- File existence check before each wave — if tech-spec says "modify" but file doesn't exist, worker MUST create it
- Audit Wave clarity — when scheduled for a later session, record "not run" in decisions.md (not a failure)
git add -ffor logs/ artifacts — explicit force-add in all feature-execution commits (wave, session sync, session end).gitignoretemplate —!work/*/logs/exception for methodology artifacts- Mandatory Session End Protocol — copy-paste prompt for next session at every pipeline step end
Agent Discipline:
- Strict instruction tone — all "should/consider/if needed" → MUST/ALWAYS/MANDATORY
- Propose-first interview style — agents propose answers from context, don't ask obvious questions
- Shim skills fixed — no more
dispatch-skill.ps1references, direct SKILL.md execution - Intermediate summaries at every checkpoint within skills
- Documentation discipline — decisions.md updated immediately, not batched
- Framework update protocol — save context anchor, minimal update, return to work in <30 seconds
- Pipeline navigation — auto-redirect to correct next step,
/infrastructure-setupbefore/do-featurefor new projects
v1.2 — Blocking Gates (2026-03-24)
Found during real-world testing: agents skipped approval steps, ran sessions without stopping, ignored LOC budgets.
- 6 blocking gates enforced across pipeline (task approval, session plan approval, scope confirmation, session end STOP)
- Session End Protocol: structured report + handoff prompt + HARD STOP
- Session Scope Confirmation: LOC budget table shown before every session/task start
- Pre-flight checks in
/do-featureand/do-task: verify session-plan approved, task in current session - No auto-transition:
/decompose-tech-specends with STOP, user must explicitly invoke execution session-plan.mdnow hasstatus: draft/approvedfrontmatter
v1.1 changes
- Fixed deploy task skill reference (
infrastructure→deploy-pipeline) - Fixed dimension count inconsistency (10 → 11) — Resource Management was missing
- Fixed validator count mismatch (6 → 5) in task-decomposition
- Added team protocol override note in code-writing skill
- Replaced documentation-writing reviewer mapping
- Removed TypeScript/JavaScript ecosystem bias (now language-agnostic)
- Added wave-conflicts to methodology validator
- Fixed Context Files paths (
$AGENTS_HOME/→.agents/relative paths) - Added LOC budget rationale,
estimated_locdocumentation - Full Codex CLI adaptation: paths, models, frontmatter, hooks, smoke test